What Now? AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Ram Hill
What to do about AdBlue in a diesel tank comes down to one thing more than any other: whether your motor has run since it went in. Anywhere your vehicle is — Winterbourne Down, Ram Hill — never run an engine that has not been started yet. Call 0333 366 0103 with your key and engine both off. In Ram Hill, such a case is generally emptied and flushed where it stands. When the engine has been run, stop somewhere safe first, then switch the vehicle off. It's a larger job, yet step one doesn't change.
Below: the situations our engineers see, wherever in Gloucestershire. Pick the one that fits.
At the pump in Ram Hill: AdBlue in a diesel
Just at this point, bottle yet in your hand, it dawns on you that the cap you took off was the wrong one, right at the pump. Anywhere in Ram Hill, then — Shell, Sainsbury's, or anywhere else nearby.
The upshot: of all places to find out, the forecourt is the best. Still inside that tank, with no fuel drawn onwards: that is where the AdBlue sits.
Clearing the petrol pump is no excuse to run it — so do not get back in. Have the staff to help pushing it into a space, hold on to the receipt, then phone us from there. Can't move it by the pump? Our explosion-proof kit makes a busy forecourt sensible, and so we can drain it where it is.
AdBlue in your diesel tank at home around Ram Hill
Days had gone by with the warning light on. You bought a bottle, poured it in on the driveway, and only when you put the empty bottle in the recycling did you look again at the cap. It occurs on drives just off Serridge Lane as often as anywhere.
Put simply: if your car has not been driven since, it's almost as good as finding out at the forecourt. At the bottom of your tank is exactly where AdBlue stays, because it won't blend with diesel — and a night passing changes no difference.
Your move: keys in the house, and so no one drives your vehicle anywhere first thing. Then, phone. Henfield or Ram Hill: wherever your driveway sits, that's where it gets cleared. Night-time drains beside a house are no problem: the pumps are low-noise.
Ram Hill: set off with AdBlue in a diesel?
Topped up, drove away, and before long your engine was running roughly, smoking, down on power, or flashing up the dash. Possibly it was on Ruffet Road, maybe on the way out towards Bristol, under 10 miles away.
The upshot: the system has drawn AdBlue in already. It's been through your filter and your lines and, the further you went, into the high-pressure pump and the fuel injectors. Every restart, like every mile, carries it on.
Your move: stop somewhere safe, then switch your motor off. Service stations further on are too far: on the M4, under a mile out of Ram Hill, take the next junction. It will not have cleared, so there is no point starting it again to find out. Let us know the mileage covered when you ring.
AdBlue in the wrong tank: hire, lease and company motors
You've had this car barely a week. Your own vehicle either does without AdBlue or keeps it elsewhere, so no one warned you the AdBlue cap sits right beside the diesel. Throughout Gloucestershire, nobody is immune.
Meaning? Whatever applies above counts here — run or unrun — and one extra step. Many rental and fleet contracts need the owner's approval before work.
Sorting it before we turn up is faster, and so ring the hire company or your fleet manager, and then us. Stuck by St Saviour's Church or outside Yate till someone answers, the vehicle stays turned off throughout.
Not sure it was AdBlue in the diesel tank, Ram Hill?
At times, "I think so" is all anyone can truthfully say. The bottle is lighter than it should be, there's a faint smell of ammonia round the filler, and you can't remember which cap you took off. Maybe on a friend's driveway in Bromley Heath, or rushing by The Manor Church of England Primary School on the school run.
Meaning? Spills around the inlet never reach the engine at all. AdBlue inside the diesel tank does. You can't tell which by turning the ignition, and doing so would suck in any AdBlue that is in that tank.
What to do: treat it as if it got in. Do not crank it. Tell us what you noticed on the phone. A clear tank checked is a happier outcome than an already-run one drained.
The common ground in every Ram Hill AdBlue drain
Whatever the case, a single opening is used. Forecourt, driveway, Ring O'Bells's car park or a road beside Lyde Green Community Centre — our van comes to the car, and three answers follow: what fluid, which quantity, and whether it ran. Replies set the work; the price comes on the call whilst nobody has left yet.
A thorough flush comes after the drain. With petrol it is standard; with AdBlue it is essential, because deposits form and certain metals corrode, and none of it washes away unaided. Last come your filter, flushed or replaced if necessary; fresh diesel; and a check of your vehicle. Not started? In that case about half an hour on site covers most jobs.
Firing it up comes last. With new diesel in, it runs while our engineers make sure it is running smoothly, and then we leave. When it is noticed quickly, the vehicle very rarely has long-term damage, and the entire job happens where it is. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. Many policies cover misfuelling, so look at yours while the van travels.
About Ram Hill, for a moment
Ram Hill is a locality in Gloucestershire, situated inland at an elevation of 56 metres, approximately 7 miles from Bristol. Ram Hill is characterized by its predominantly detached housing stock, reflecting the area's residential nature. Ram Hill is also close to nearby places such as Henfield, Kendleshire, and Coalpit Heath, and is located about 100 miles west of London.
AdBlue drains about Ram Hill and across Gloucestershire
Ram Hill is a small village, and the same vans that cover it work the towns around it too, Kendleshire and Coalpit Heath among them, across the BS postcode area. Fastest of all: a BS36 2 postcode to show where you stand.
Centre of Ram Hill or a lay-by near Coalpit Heath Cricket Club: either way it is, your car never needs to move an inch for us. The van drains it where it stands. If you are somewhere hard to describe, near Brockeridge Centre or close to a border, ring and ask instead of guessing.
Your situation, summed up
If it has not run, ring and leave it off. Started by now? Stop, switch off, ring. Petrol in Diesel handles the rest whatever it is, in Ram Hill and Gloucestershire, on 0333 366 0103.